Miscellaneous unorganized material/KWTV
| licensee = Griffin OKC Licensing, LLC| sister_stations = | former_affiliations = | effective_radiated_power = 530 kW (digital)| HAAT = 478 m (digital)| class = | facility_id = 25382| coordinates = (digital)| homepage = www.news9.com| }} '''KWTV, commonly referred to as "News 9" is the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During the May 2006 sweeps period KWTV was the highest-rated late newscast in the United States. It has long been one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the country. KWTV is owned by Griffin Communications of Oklahoma City. KWTV has two buildings in the Oklahoma City Metro: one, which houses its main news studio, master control, sales office and its transmitter, located at North Kelley Avenue in Oklahoma City; the other, which houses a secondary studio, located in the Bricktown district of downtown Oklahoma City. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 9. KWTV can be seen on cable channel 10 on Cox Oklahoma City, and on cable channel 9 on other Cox systems in Central Oklahoma. The station is also available to customers on DirecTV and Dish Network within the Oklahoma City market. History KWTV went on the air December 20, 1953 and was the third television station in Oklahoma. It has been owned by the Griffin family throughout its history, and along with sister station KOTV in Tulsa, is one of only two locally-owned network affiliates in the state. It is also one of the few stations in the country that has had the same call letters, owner, primary network affiliation and channel number throughout its history. According to Griffin Communications' president David Griffin, his father John (founder of Griffin Foods), noticed while driving around Oklahoma City that all the homes in the area had outdoor television antennas in order to receive the city's (and state's) first television station, WKY-TV (channel 4, now KFOR-TV). It was then that Griffin decided to expand into television and decided to apply for a television license with the FCC. According to longtime employee Spec Hart, the first thing broadcast on KWTV were employees mentioning their name and which department they were in at the station. The Griffins also owned KOMA at the time it signed on, but decided to call their station KWTV (for W'orld's '''T'allest 'V'ideo) after its then under-construction tower, which was to be the tallest in the world at 1,577 feet. Channel 9 activated its current tower in early 1954. In 1973, KWTV installed the first weather radar in the country for television. Shortly after it was installed, the radar was utilized by Chief Meteorlogist Gary England on May 24 of that year during a televised severe weather alert of a tornado warning for Canadian County following the sighting of a damaging F4 tornado near the small town of Union City which resulted in extensive damage."Weathering the Storm: Tornadoes, Television, and Turmoil" by Gary England. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. An original film of that televised warning from 1973 is often still used today in Channel 9's promos of England and its severe weather coverage. In 1971, after the FCC issued the Prime Time Access Rule that cut the three broadcast networks at the time (CBS, NBC and ABC) prime time schedules by 30 minutes each night from 3.5 hours to 3 hours, KWTV's 6 p.m. broadcast of Newsroom 9 debuted as the first 60-minute newscast in the Oklahoma City market, broadcast from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (a format similar to KFOR-TV's current 6:00 p.m. news block). The newscast was split into two separate 30 minute broadcasts at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. in 1976, with the CBS Evening News sandwiched in between at 5:30 p.m. From 1966 to 1971, KWTV's newscast was titled Eyewitness News, a moniker later used by rival ABC affiliate KOCO. In 1981, the first commercial Doppler radar in the nation was installed at KWTV at the recommendation of meteorologist Gary England."Weathering the Storm: Tornadoes, Television, and Turmoil" by Gary England. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. England believed the radar would help him better forecast the severe weather that often affects Oklahoma. Shortly after KWTV introduced its first Doppler radar, a tornado located in Caddo County near the town of Binger was indicated on Doppler radar during a live cut-in by Chief Meteorologist Gary England and at the same time, a live shot of that tornado was broadcast during that cut-in from a cameraman stationed inside KWTV's news helicopter, Ranger 9, which was flown to the scene. From 1982 to 1990, KWTV General Manager Duane Harm was a frequent contributor to the station's newscast with regular commentaries concerning local and state issues and concerns. Per FCC regulations, the station provided equal time to parties with opposing viewpoints. KWTV was the first Oklahoma television station to use a helicopter for daily news-gathering(launched 1 day before KOCO's Sky5), Ranger 9 (replaced in 2006 by SkyNews9 HD, a Bell 407 helicopter), which became installed with a camera below the nose of the helicopter dubbed as EagleVision in 2000 and the first to use one equipped with a High-Definition Video camera as of early 2006. However, it is not currently broadcast in HD. KWTV introduced the first broadcast automated weather warning system in the country called First Warning.and was among the first to introduce software for the PC that alerted the user to both severe weather alerts and breaking news in the form of I-News. Famous for its severe weather coverage with meteorologist Gary England, KWTV is known for having the top technology in the country for storm coverage. In 1986, when a devastating tornado tore through the northern Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, Channel 9 and England were credited for their advanced warning efforts resulting in relatively few injuries and no casualties despite the millions of dollars in damage. On May 3, 1999, Gary England went on the air to cover the F5 Tornado that damaged much of central Oklahoma from Chickasha to the southeastern portion of the Oklahoma City metro, including the suburbs of Moore, Del City, and Midwest City. There were many other storms that day as well, the final death toll was 44, though it is believed that it would have been much higher without the advance warning provided by Gary and the rest of the KWTV weather staff. England and the News 9 weather team present a series of programs each spring and summer season titled "Those Terrible Twisters" to local communities throughout Oklahoma in which they visit with viewers and provide lots of information regarding tornado safety precautions and promote the station's efforts in providing up-to-date severe weather coverage to Oklahoma. KWTV was the first station to produce tornado documentaries of the June 13th, 1998 Oklahoma City tornadoes, the 1998 October Tornado Outbreak and the 1999 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. On January 26, 2001, KWTV sports anchor Bill Teegins along with nine other members of the Oklahoma State University basketball team were killed when their plane went down in Colorado after a basketball game against the University of Colorado. A memorial has been erected at the crash site, along with a statue of a kneeling cowboy on the Stillwater OSU campus. In 2001, the station embarked on a media partnership with The Oklahoman newspaper which included the merger of both their websites. That collaboration ended in early 2008. Incidentally, The Oklahoma Publishing Company, owner of The Oklahoman, put rival station KFOR-TV on the air in 1949 as WKY-TV and owned it until 1976. KWTV also partners with Tulsa station KOTV, also owned by Griffin since their acquisition of the station in 1999 from A.H. Belo Corporation. The two stations collaborate on Sunday night extended sports coverage branded as the "Oklahoma Sports Blitz." In Early November 2006, KWTV began using a brand-new, state-of-the-art news set, specially designed for high-definition broadcasting that could be implemented in the future. The set was designed and built by FX Group. (the same group that built KOCO's set 3 years earlier) Digital television KWTV-DT broadcasts on digital channel 9. KWTV and KOTV have requested to transmit only digitally, effective February 17, 2009.http://newsok.com/broadcasters-go-forward-on-transition/article/3343693 After the analog television shutdown, KWTV-TV will return to channel 9. Market firsts KWTV "firsts" in the Oklahoma City market and/or nationwide: *First with videotape *First to have weather radar"Weathering the Storm: Tornadoes, Television, and Turmoil" by Gary England. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. *First to offer 24 hour programming *First in the nation to have commercial Doppler radar."Weathering the Storm: Tornadoes, Television, and Turmoil" by Gary England. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. *First to bring a helicopter to Oklahoma City for news reporting *First to use a broadcast weather warning system for television (KOCO's weather warning system First Alert, shares a similar first as the first automated weather warning system, while KWTV's First Warning system when it was first developed, updated watches and warnings manually) *First to introduce software for the PC that alerted the user to both severe weather alerts and breaking news in the form of I-News. *First Oklahoma television station to use a High-definition video camera for Standard definition broadcast on a TV news helicopter Ratings KWTV has long held a rivalry with KFOR-TV (now number 3 at 5pm and 6pm) for the highest-rated newscast in the Oklahoma City area. As of May 2007, the station's 10:00 pm newscast is currently the top-rated newscast (per Nielsen Media Research) in the nation and tied with KFOR in the mornings. News operation KWTV currently broadcasts 35.5 hours of news per week, more than any station in the Oklahoma City market. KWTV has a partnership with Tulsa sister station KOTV (also a CBS affiliate, owned by Griffin), showing news stories from KOTV during evening newscasts, as well as a KOTV-produced news insert during KWTV's 4PM newscast. While the Ogle family is a staple of KFOR-TV dating back to the 1950s with Jack Ogle (and continuing to this day with Kent and Kevin Ogle), KWTV's co-anchor of the 5, 6 and 10PM newscasts is Kelly Ogle, whom since 2003 has also had his own op-ed segment titled My Two Cents, similar to the aforementioned commentaries from Duane Harm, airing weeknights during the 10PM newscast. Chief meteorologist Gary England, morning and noon anchor and former sports reporter/anchor Ed Murray and reporter Gan Matthews have had the longest tenures of any of the station's on-air news staff, with England having been with the station since 1972 and the latter two having been with the station since the early 1980s. In the 1990s, KWTV attempted its own investigative unit called "The Investigators", in the form of the investigative reports on many CBS and Fox affiliates. These segments had included reports highlighting unsafe conditions at Metro-area restaurants and area doctors who have committed malpractice. The station continues to do periodic investigative reports to this day; and also features an investigative segment called "Consumer Watch", reported by 5PM anchor Amanda Taylor, which is similar to KFOR's longtime consumer/investigative segment In Your Corner. KWTV has gone through several different on-air branding schemes including Newsscope, Eyewitness News, Big 9 News and Newsline 9, and finally the present NEWS9, retaining the current logo despite several graphics package changes. KWTV has used Image News by Gari Communications as its news music package since 1997 and currently uses the "Series 2" version (Ironically, some stations owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, owner of KOCO-TV, had used Image News (with others using Gari's The B Package) for their news package until 2004, but because KWTV had used Image News, KOCO did not use it). Weather coverage The station is well known for placing a significant emphasis on weather. Famous for its severe weather coverage with chief meteorologist Gary England, KWTV is known for having the top technology in the country for storm coverage. Previously working as a hydrologist in Louisiana before joining the station, Oklahoma born-and-raised England is Oklahoma's longest-serving local television meteorologist, having worked at the station since 1972 (he assumed the mantle of the longest-serving meteorologist in the state -- previously held by former WKY-TV/KTVY/KFOR-TV meteorologist Jim Williams, who worked at that station from 1958 to 1990 -- in 2004, when he reached the 32-year mark at the station). In 1973, KWTV installed the first weather radar in the country for television. Shortly after it was installed, the radar was utilized by Gary England on May 24 of that year during a televised severe weather alert of a tornado warning for Canadian County following the sighting of a damaging F4 tornado near the small town of Union City which resulted in extensive damage.1 An original film of that televised warning from 1973 is often still used today in Channel 9's promos of England and its severe weather coverage. In 1981, the first commercial Doppler radar in the nation was installed at KWTV at England's recommendation.2 England believed the radar would help him better forecast the severe weather that often affects Oklahoma. Shortly after KWTV introduced its first Doppler radar, a tornado located in Caddo County near the town of Binger was indicated on Doppler radar during a live cut-in by England and at the same time, a live shot of that tornado was broadcast during that cut-in from a cameraman stationed inside KWTV's news helicopter, Ranger 9, which was flown to the scene. In 1986, England helped develop the first weather alert system in the country for broadcast television called First Warning, and in 2000, KWTV was among the first to introduce software for the PC that alerted the user to both severe weather alerts and breaking news in the form of I-News. On May 8, 1986, when a damaging F2 tornado tore through the northern Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, Channel 9 and England were credited for their advanced warning efforts resulting in relatively few injuries and no casualties despite the millions of dollars in damage. On May 3, 1999, Gary England went on the air to cover the F5 tornado that caused major devastation along its path from Chickasha to the southeastern portion of the Oklahoma City metro, including the suburbs of Moore, Del City, and Midwest City. That particular storm was one of 66 tornadoes to occur in the state that day over an eight-hour period, the final death toll was 44, though it is believed that it would have been much higher without the advance warning provided by Gary and the rest of the KWTV weather staff, as well as those by other broadcast media outlets in the area. From the 1980s until 2006, England and the NEWS9 weather team had presented a series of programs each spring and summer season titled "Those Terrible Twisters" to local communities throughout Oklahoma in which they visit with viewers and provide lots of information regarding tornado safety precautions and promote the station's efforts in providing up-to-date severe weather coverage to Oklahoma. The station also produced half-hour "Those Terrible Twisters" specials airing each spring on KWTV, featuring tornado footage shot by KWTV Storm Trackers (interspersed with behind-the-scenes video of KWTV storm coverage) along with tornado safety information. In 1998, KWTV was one of the first stations in the country to introduce a computer system (originally known as MAX until 2003) to display future weather conditions in exact hour-by-hour detail. KWTV was the first station to produce tornado documentaries of the June 13th, 1998 Oklahoma City tornadoes, the October 1998 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak and the May 1999 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak. During the first of the three tornado events, a camera on the station's transmission tower caught live on the air, the collapse of an auxiliary tower belonging to KFOR-TV and its former radio sister WKY-AM. On May 8, 2003, when an F3 tornado hit northern Oklahoma City, KWTV tested a new Doppler radar titled MOAR (for Massive Output Arrayed Radar; though Gary England colloquially referred to it as the "Mother of All Radars"). The radar has the ability to dectect a tornado's path down to street-level. After the radar was put into regular use the following year, GPS tracking was added to display the location of the Storm Tracker units. In February 2007, KWTV launched another radar named "Storm Monitor" (now known by its standard brand name of ESP). The "MesoStrengthIndex" determines the strength of a mesocyclone in a severe storm and its potential of producing a tornado. If the "MesoStrengthIndex" level is over 5,000 and the "ProbabilityofTornado" percentage is over 30%, there is a significant chance of a tornado eventually occuring. The station also operates two other radars: VIPIR, which has been in use since 1999, and Doppler 9000XL, which has been in use since 1985. Programming KWTV currently carries all CBS network programming, with the exception of The Saturday Early Show, one of a handful of CBS stations that carries The Early Show only on weekdays (KWTV airs a Saturday morning newscast instead). Current syndicated programming on KWTV includes Live with Regis & Kelly, Entertainment Tonight, Seinfeld, and The Doctors, and it is also the longtime Oklahoma City home for the syndicated agricultural newscast AgDay. KWTV has the distinction of being one of the few stations running entertainment news shows after late night network shows (The Insider and Extra air after The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, followed by an encore run of Entertainment Tonight, which also airs after the 6PM newscast). KWTV (along with Tulsa sister station KOTV) also airs the state tourism program Integris Health's Discover Oklahoma on Saturday evenings before primetime. The station aired Jeopardy! until 1998 (it has since moved to KFOR-TV), but ironically it acquired Live with Regis and Kelly (then Live with Regis and Kathie Lee) from KFOR-TV in 1995. Sports Since 2000, KWTV has broadcast three Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball games per season, usually airing on a Wednesday or Saturday, in addition to airing CBS' coverage of NCAA basketball. NEWS9 Notable Personalities Current On-Air Talent (as of January 22, 2009) '''Current Anchors *'Charles Bassett' - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30PM and weekends at 10PM (also fill-in weeknight anchor/reporter) *'Alex Cameron' - weekdays at 4PM (also fill-in anchor/reporter) *'Robin Marsh' - weekday mornings "NEWS9 This Morning" *'Melissa Maynarich' - weekdays at noon and 4PM (also reporter) *'Kirsten McIntyre' - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM (also reporter) *'Amy McRee' - weeknights at 6 and 10PM (also feature reporter) *'Ed Murray' - weekday mornings "NEWS9 This Morning" and noon *'Kelly Ogle' - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM (also reporter) *'Jennifer Pierce' - weekend mornings "NEWS9 This Morning" (also reporter) *'Amanda Taylor' - weeknights at 5PM (also "Consumer Watch" reporter) *'Doug Warner' - weekdays on NEWS9 This Morning (fill-in noon anchor/feature reporter) Reporters/Other *'Dr. Mary Ann Baumann' - medical contributor *'Irven Box' - legal analyst *'Colleen Chen' - general assignment reporter *'Jim Craig' - substitute traffic reporter *'Mason Dunn' - "SkyNews9 HD" pilot reporter *'Dave Jordan' - general assignment reporter *'Jon Jordan' - general assignment reporter *'Andrew Harris' - traffic reporter *'Amy Lester' - general assignment reporter *'Gan Matthews' - general assignment reporter *'Scott Mitchell' - political analyst *'Jacqueline Sit' - general assignment reporter *'Rusty Surrette' - general assignment reporter NEWS9 Weather Team In addition to providing forecasts on KWTV, the NEWS9 Weather Team also provides forecasts for KOKC-AM, KOMA-FM, KMGL-FM and KRXO-FM radio, and the Oklahoma News Network family of radio stations. *'Gary England' (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weekdays at 4, weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM *'Michael Armstrong' - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM *'Nick Bender' - Meteorologist; weekend mornings "NEWS9 This Morning" *'Jed Castles' (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "NEWS9 This Morning" and noon NEWS9 StormTracker Spotter Unit *'Alan Broerse' *'Hank Brown' *'Amy Johnson Castor' *'Val Castor' *'Billy Griffin' *'Marty Logan' *'Bobby Payne' *'Rob Satkus' NEWS9 Sports *'Dean Blevins' - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM (also Oklahoma Sports Blitz co-host) *'Toby Rowland' - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6 and 10, and Sundays at 5:30PM (also Friday Football Blitz host/sports reporter) *'John Holcomb' - Oklahoma Sports Blitz co-host (also sports director and anchor at KOTV in Tulsa) *'Chad McKee' - sports reporter (also fill-in sports anchor) Former On-Air Talent *'Jerry Adams' - anchor/reporter (1974-1982) *'Paul Bouchereau' - meteorologist (1984-1986 and 1994-2001; now owner and general manager of the Oklahoma Weather Network) *'Jack Bowen' - co-anchor (1987-1990; later at KOCO-TV and KOKH) *'Brady Brus' - weekend meteorologist (1991-1999; now chief meteorologist at KSBI-TV, and co-owner and general manager of KSBI's owner Family Broadcasting Group of Oklahoma) *'Angela Buckelew' - anchor/reporter (1992-2006) *'Stacey Cameron' - reporter (2006-2008; now at WRAL in Raleigh, NC) *'Mike Carpenter' - anchor/reporter (1980s-late 1990s) *'Stan Chase' - sports reporter (1980-1986) *'Ronald Clark' - sports reporter (Late 1970s-1985) *'Ralph Combes' - anchor/reporter (1960s-1970s) *'Roger Cooper' - co-anchor (1982-1987 and 1990-1993) *'Zach Daniel' - weekend evening meteorologist (2001-2008; now at WTVR in Richmond, VA) *'Jennifer Eve' - anchor/reporter (1980s; now freelance, hosts "Together at the Table" feature for Sunday morning newscasts and locally-produced "Let's Talk Gardening") *'Deborah Fabien' - anchor/reporter (1980-1982) *'Ritch Field' - reporter (1998-2000) *'Shon Gables' - weekend morning anchor/reporter (1998-2001) *'Chris Harrison' - weekend sports anchor/reporter (1993-1997; now host of ABC's The Bachelor and The Bachelorette) *'Tarra G. Haskins' - education reporter (1984-1985) *'Amy Hawley' - weekend anchor/reporter (1990s-2000s; now at KSHB-TV in Kansas City) *'Mitch Jelniker' - evening anchor/reporter (1982-1995; now at KMGH in Denver) *'Wayne Liles' - farm reporter (1957-1981) *'Alicia Malaby' - reporter (1983-1989; now weekend anchor at KXTV in Sacramento) *'Kia Malone' - weekend morning anchor/reporter (2001-2004; now anchor of syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz) *'Russ McCaskey' - reporter (1992-1995; now at KJRH in Tulsa) *'Deborah Lauren McCaskey' - reporter (1986-1995; later at KJRH in Tulsa) *'Fran Morris' - host of children's show Miss Fran from Storyland (1950s) *'Casey Norton' - weekend anchor (1999-2002; now at KOMO-TV In Seattle) *'Pam Olson' - Oklahoma City's first female news anchor (1970s-early 1980s; now reporter for the Tulsa World) *'Bruce Palmer' - anchor/reporter (1953-1959) *'Tamara Pratt' - anchor/reporter (1990s-2007; now married to Oklahoma County D.A. David Prater) *'Randy Renner' - reporter (1980s-1998; fired, now at KOKC-AM) *'Jenifer Reynolds' - anchor/reporter (mid 1980s-2001; now co-host of Integris Health's Discover Oklahoma) *'Mark Rodgers' - weekend sports anchor/reporter (2000-2003; now at KOCO) *'Carrie Rose' - weather producer/substitute meteorologist (2006-2008) *'Tony Sellars' - sports anchor/reporter (1984-1987; now director of communications at Feed The Children) *'John Snyder' - sports director (1973-1975 and 1982-1987; now at WCNC in Charlotte) *'Patti Suarez' - co-anchor (1982-1990) *'Dean Swanson' - anchor/reporter (1977-1982) *'Leroy Tatom' - "Ranger 9" pilot reporter (1994-2001; deceased) *'Bill Teegins' - sports director/anchor (1986-2001; deceased, killed in OSU plane crash in Colorado in 2001) *'Ed Turner' - anchor (1950s-1960s) *'Harry Volkman' - chief meteorologist (1954-1960; later at WGN-TV and WFLD-TV in Chicago) *'Mark Weaver' - anchor (1950s-1960s) *'Gene Wheatley' - agri-business reporter (1983-1986) News/Station Presentation Newscast Titles *''Four Star Report'' (1953-1958) *''Channel 9 Report'' (1958-1961) *''Newsscope'' (1961-1964) *''KWTV News'' (1964-1966) *''Eyewitness News'' (1966-1971) *''Newsroom 9'' (1971-1980) *''Big 9 News'' (1980-1981) *''Newsline 9'' (1981-1997) *''News 9'' (1997-present) Station Slogans *''Television 9, Eyewitness News, In Color'' (1966-1971) *''Newsroom 9, Oklahoma's News in Color'' (1971-1975) *''All The News on Newsroom 9'' (1975-1979) *''We're Coming On, The Big 9 is There'' (1979-1981) *''Count On 9'' (1981-1984) *''The Spirit of Oklahoma'' (1984-2000) **Variations: Working In The Spirit of Oklahoma, In The Spirit of Oklahoma *''More Local, More Meaningful'' (2000-2003) *''Making a Difference'' (2007-present) *''Stay with NEWS9, We'll Keep You Advised'' (weather slogan, has also been read prior to 2000 as "Stay with TV-9, we'll keep you advised.") : Trivia *For a period in the early 1990s, KWTV preempted CBS News Sunday Morning, which it had aired during the 1980s and since about 1995. The only CBS program it currently regularly preempts is The Saturday Early Show in favor of NEWS9 This Morning Weekend Edition. Office location KWTV's studios and transmitter are located at 7401 North Kelly Avenue, just across the street from the studios of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. KWTV's studio was revamped in 2006 and fitted with a new set built by the FX Group. See also * News Now 53 * I-News External links *NEWS9.com - KWTV NEWS9 * * References Category:CBS network affiliates Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Channel 9 TV stations in the United States Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953 Category:Wealth TV network affiliates Category:ABC Family network affiliates